Shan Demetrius Cheley on Wednesday was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole plus 35 years in the Sept. 30, 2012, slaying of Amber DeLoach.

Chatham County Superior Court Judge Timothy R. Walmsley imposed maximum terms for malice murder, arson and possession of a controlled substance, then ordered that each be served consecutively. Cheley had five felony convictions between 1998 and 2004.

Prosecutor Jennifer Guyer had urged that the sentence make it clear the court wanted the defendant to remain in jail for the rest of his life.

Assistant Public Defender Falen Cox conceded that Walmsley’s hands were tied on the malice murder charge but urged him to probate sentences for arson and drug possession and run them concurrently with each other and the murder sentence.

Guyer argued that DeLoach was slain as part of the “most heinous and awful crime that can ever be committed,” and that the defendant “has never taken any responsibility for what he has done ... never shown remorse.”

The judge’s sentence followed an impassioned statement read by DeLoach’s father, William A. DeLoach Jr., who recalled his daughter as being a “happy, free-spirited individual that loved and lived life to the fullest.

“The tragic and needless loss of my daughter Amber devastated us all and still does to this very day. ... There is not a single day that goes by that I don’t have a thought of my daughter and these precious memories are all that’s left.”

Addressing the defendant, DeLoach said: “All of our lives will be poorer for having lost her and all because of you, Shan Cheley. Your cowardly act of rape, aggression, strangulation, arson and stupidity will for evermore be the legacy which you have to live with, and we pray that it will haunt you, as it does us, the rest of your life.”

A jury convicted Cheley, 38, on Dec. 20 on murder, felony murder during an aggravated assault, arson and drug charges but acquitted him on charges of rape and felony murder during the commission of a rape.

The 18-year-old former St. Vincent’s Academy student and Islands High alumna was found slain in the trunk of a rented Dodge Avenger Sept. 30 in Yamacraw Village. Evidence showed she was dead when the vehicle was set on fire about 6:40 a.m.

Prosecutors contended Cheley met the victim in City Market and took her to his home at 10 Little Country Place where he raped and strangled her. They said he then placed her in the trunk of the car and drove to the downtown site where he set the car ablaze with gasoline he bought from a nearby gas station.

Cheley’s attorneys admitted he had “rough sex” with the victim but said it was consensual in exchange for drugs.

During Wednesday’s sentencing both Guyer and William DeLoach commented on Cheley’s behavior in court during the trial.

“During the trial of the murder of my Amber you would repeatedly look at my daughter, Ashley, and I and laugh, sit there seemingly proud of the evil that you have brought to our family,” DeLoach said. “The kind of evil that is in your heart should never be allowed in our society, and I hope that it never will be.”

• Possession of a controlled substance, 15 years in prison, consecutive

Total sentence: life in prison without the possibility of parole, plus 35 years

Charges of felony murder during the commission of an aggravated assault and aggravated assault merged with the murder charge. So they weren’t sentenced separately. Jurors acquitted Cheley on charges of felony murder during the commission of a rape and rape.